'Star Trek: The Next Generation' — Season Two Blu-ray review

The second season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” has been released in a remastered, high-definition format for Blu-ray, and the episodes have never looked better. Despite occasional misfires, season two of “TNG” introduces several characters and plots that would be important for the remainder of the show's run.

Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is the captain of the starship Enterprise, a Galaxy-class starship on which crew members and their families explore the universe. The show is set about 100 years after the original “Star Trek” series, the groundbreaking 1960s science fiction program.

Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) departs in season two, making way for the one-season experiment of Diana Muldaur as Dr. Pulaski. Pulaski's rough-hewed, seen-it-all doctor was meant to recall DeForrest Kelley as Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the original series. But her demeanor clashed, not always in a positive way, with the kindler, gentler staff of the Enterprise-D.

Two stars of the “Trek” firmament began their path to fan-favorites in earnest in the 1988-89 season, with Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), an android officer of the Enterprise, as the focus of several episodes in his quest to become more human. “The Measure of a Man,” in which Capt. Picard must defend Data's right to existence, is an episode that gets at the essence of what makes “Star Trek” special. Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) gets a spotlight in “The Icarus Factor,” where he meets up again with old flame K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson).

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by Matthew Price

Features Editor

Features Editor Matthew Price has worked for The Oklahoman since 2000. He’s a University of Oklahoma graduate who has also worked at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and was a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund intern for the Dallas Morning News. He’s...